My thoughts are jumbled. There’s too many of them going around in my mind and some kind of squeezing feeling in my chest. Part of me even feels shame for ever thinking differently of him.

In ways, I think I wanted to scream at him and fight back, maybe even blame him. It would be nice to push all this weight I’ve been carrying onto someone else’s shoulders just so I could breathe and feel lighter for a few seconds. And now?

Well, it feels like a punch to my very soul.

He leans forward, ...